The Cantharellaceae are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Cantharellales. The family contains the chanterelles and related species, a group of fungi that superficially resemble agarics (gilled mushrooms) but have smooth, wrinkled, or gill-like hymenophores (spore-bearing undersurfaces). Species in the family are

ectomycorrhizal An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ', "outside", μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobion ...

, forming a mutually beneficial relationship with the roots of trees and other plants. Many of the Cantharellaceae, including the chanterelle ('' Cantharellus cibarius''), the Pacific golden chanterelle ('' Cantharellus formosus''), the horn of plenty ('' Craterellus cornucopioides''), and the trumpet chanterelle ('' Craterellus tubaeformis''), are not only edible, but are collected and marketed internationally on a commercial scale.

Taxonomy

History

The family was originally described in 1888 by German

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

Joseph Schröter Joseph Schröter (14 March 1837 – 12 December 1894) was a German mycologist and medical doctor. He wrote several books and texts, and discovered and described many species of flora and fungi. He also spent around fifteen years, from 1871 to 1886 ...

to accommodate the chanterelles, which at that time were thought to be an evolutionary link between "primitive" '' Thelephora'' species with smooth hymenophores (spore-bearing surfaces) and more "advanced" ''

Agaricus ''Agaricus'' is a genus of mushroom-forming fungi containing both edible and poisonous species, with over 400 members worldwide and possibly again as many disputed or newly discovered species. The genus includes the common ("button") mushroom ...

'' species with gilled hymenophores. In 1903, French mycologist René Maire proposed a new classification system that emphasized the possession of "stichic"

basidia A basidium (: basidia) is a microscopic spore-producing structure found on the hymenophore of reproductive bodies of basidiomycete fungi. The presence of basidia is one of the main characteristic features of the group. These bodies are also ...

(basidia with nuclear spindles arranged longitudinally), a characteristic of the Cantharellaceae that linked the family to the Hydnaceae and Clavulinaceae. This led Ernst Albert Gäumann to include the genus ''

Hydnum ''Hydnum'' is a genus of fungi in the family Hydnaceae. They are notable for their unusual spore-bearing structures of teeth rather than Lamella (mycology), gills. The best known are the Edible mushroom, edible species ''Hydnum repandum'' and ''H ...

'' (the hedgehog fungi) within the Cantharellaceae. In his 1964 survey of fungal families, Dutch mycologist

Marinus Anton Donk Marinus Anton Donk (14 August 1908 – 2 September 1972) was a Dutch mycology, mycologist. He specialized in the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and nomenclature of mushrooms. Rolf Singer wrote in his obituary that he was "one of the most outstandin ...

limited the Cantharellaceae to '' Cantharellus'' and '' Craterellus'' species, together with some close tropical associates, and this disposition was widely accepted.

Current status

Molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...

research, based on

cladistic Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

analysis of

DNA sequences A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the ...

, has confirmed Donk's circumscription of the Cantharellaceae, though the smaller genera have not yet been sequenced. According to a standard 2008 reference work, the family contains 5 genera and over 90 species worldwide.

Description

Fruit bodies of most species in the family are mushroom-like or trumpet-like, with spore-bearing surfaces that are smooth, wrinkled, veined, or gill-like and that are typically

decurrent ''Decurrent'' (sometimes decurring) is a term used in botany and mycology to describe plant or fungal parts that extend downward. In botany, the term is most often applied to leaf blades that partly wrap or have wings around the stem or petio ...

(running down the upper stem). The

consistency In deductive logic, a consistent theory is one that does not lead to a logical contradiction. A theory T is consistent if there is no formula \varphi such that both \varphi and its negation \lnot\varphi are elements of the set of consequences ...

is fleshy, the hyphal system being monomitic (consisting of generative

hypha A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one o ...

e only). The

are comparatively large and often have more than the standard 4

sterigmata In biology, a sterigma (: sterigmata) is a small supporting structure. It commonly refers to an extension of the basidium (the spore-bearing cells) consisting of a basal filamentous part and a slender projection which carries a spore at the tip ...

Spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

s are smooth and white to yellowish or pinkish in deposit.

Habitat and distribution

All species within the Cantharellaceae are believed to be

, forming a mutually beneficial relationships with the roots of living trees and other plants. Basidiocarps typically occur on the ground or in

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

in woodland. The family has a

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...

, though the majority of species are tropical. '' Afrocantharellus'', segregated as a genus distinct from ''Cantharellus'' in 2012, has four species found only in Africa.

Economic importance

Many species of ''Cantharellus'', ''Craterellus'', and '' Goossensia'' are edible and several are collected and marketed on a commercial scale. In Europe, the commercial species are '' Cantharellus cibarius'', '' Craterellus cornucopioides'', and '' Craterellus tubaeformis'' which are sold fresh, dried, or canned and are either sourced in Europe or imported, mainly from China. Various African ''Cantharellus'' species (often collected in

miombo Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located in central and southern tropical Africa. It includes three woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) chara ...

woodlands) are also imported into Europe and marketed as "chanterelles". In North America, '' Cantharellus formosus'' is an additional, widely marketed species. The global trade in species of the Cantharellaceae has been estimated (2005) to be worth over £1bn (US$1.5bn) per year.

References

External links

The Cantharellaceae

{{Authority control Basidiomycota families